Frugal Shelter Part One

Originally Posted 8/4/06 here.


Shelter - It is one of our basic human needs. There are a wide variety of ways to meet that need. That need could be met here.



No I didn't take this picture. I found it on the web. It is a picture of a home in South Africa. I have seen homes here that look pretty similar. Unlike this one though, they have electric, water and plumbing.




Or we could meet our need for shelter with this home in California.

I am betting most of us live in something in the middle of these. The house we live in now is definitely modest according to most (American) standards, (I have to admit that some BooMama's tour of homes had me green with envy for awhile, and I haven't even been through half of them!) but I am content with it. It has what we need.

~Ok I hate to use need here. Because it really has more than we need. It has what I'd call high priority wants such as A/C, dishwasher, three bedrooms, two baths and a fireplace. Excuse the rant, but we really throw around the word need a little too carelessly.~

The tour also got me to thinking about the places we have lived before. I realized that in our 11 years of marriage, we have done some cheap living. I am not necessarily recommending any of these options, just putting them out there for some ideas. Hopefully, you can share some ideas too!

When we first got married, Tim was just beginning college. We did the typical apartments near campus. I worked, he went to school, money was incredibly tight. About a year and a half of that, and we applied for an apartment management position. We were so young, 20 & 25, and inexperienced. I had some office and customer service experience. Neither of us knew much about fixing things, yet we got the job. (I can only thank the Lord for that)

We managed 41 units. I quit my full time job at the bank, and worked for them on an as need ed basis for some extra cash. Our compensation included a small salary, and a large apartment with all utilities paid. In addition to that, there were lots of other benefits to this job.

The hours at the apartments were flexible, and I went back to school part time. We could work the apartments around our class schedules. The real added bonus was all that we learned here. We learned a lot about renting to people. The most valuable lessons though were the maintenance lessons. We painted, wall papered, replaced linoleum floors. Tim learned basic plumbing, electrical, changed water heaters, lawn care, and so much more. We made a lot of beginner mistakes. I used to joke that we learned on someone else's dime. We have saved $100's (or more) of dollars since then by doing our own repairs. (We have learned a lot of new things since then too!)

There were certainly drawbacks to this job, but it was a great fit for where we were then. I am very thankful that we had that experience. It served us well then with free housing. It is still serving us well now with lessons learned.

When Tim graduated college, I was expecting Kellen soon, and also had a semester of student teaching to complete. This is when we did the more typical free housing option, called moving back with mom and dad. They had an apartment over the garage and eventually we moved to the house when they took a job in another town. We free loaded for awhile, but did eventually pay a modest rent. We lived there for almost two years before we moved to our next free housing position. But I will save that story for next Friday!